The History of Cayuga County 1789-1879 page 414
Town of Ledyard/Aurora Village - Societies/Levanna

The lodge was rechartered June 18th, 1846, and received then its present number, 110.

The present officers are: Wm. J. Morgan, Master; N. L. Zabriskie, S. W.; Christopher B. Morgan, F. W; P. Seling, Treasurer; E. P. Baker, Secretary; Charles Kelsey, S. D.; Arthur Parsons, F. D. The present number of members is fifty. Meetings are held the first Monday of each month, in the building erected by the lodge in 1819. This building is admirably adapted to the uses of the lodge, the room in which the meetings are held being eliptical [sic] in shape and separated from the exterior walls by a passage which entirely surrounds it. It is in an excellent state of preservation. The cornerstone was laid by DeWitt Clinton, and still bears the initials of his name.

Following are the names of some of the early members, with the years in which their names first appeared upon the records, though many of them are known to have joined earlier than the years indicated: John Tillottson and Seth Sherwood, in 1797; August Chidsey, Andrew Simpson, Abner French, Daniel Shepard, Edward Paine, Edward Richardson, Edward Wheeler, Elisha Durkee, Fred'k Delano, Joseph Richardson, Jas. Barnes, Joseph Barnes, Jas. Bacon, Jonathan Richmond, Jonathan Hastings, Osborn Parson, Perley Kenney, Peres Brownell, Roswell Franklin, Victor S. Towsley, Walter Wood, Zebulon Taylor, Dudley Avery, Erastus Spalding, Stephen Downing, Matthew N. Tillottson, Phineas Rice, Jabez Bradey and George Barkley, in 1799; Thos. Luckey, Robert L. Tracy and Luther Gere, in 1800; Samuel Knapp, Wm. L. Morgan, Edmund Wright, Jedediah Morgan, James M. Devit, Christopher Morgan, Cornelius Cuyler and Benjamin Ledyard, in 1802.

AURORA CHAPTER NO. 64, R. A. M., was chartered by the Grand Chapter of New York, at its convocation of 1819. Jedediah Morgan, who represented the Seventh District in the State Senate, from Aurora, in 1825-'6, Christopher Morgan and Jonathan Richmond, were specially mentioned in the resolution granting a warrant. Its name failed to appear in the proceedings of the Grand Chapter, first at the convocation of 1828. Its charter was revived in 1849, and Jonathan Richmond, Salem Town, Charles D. Haight, Samuel Mandell, Charles E. Shepherd, John A. Dodge, Minard V. Babcock, Allen Thomas, and Peter Yawger, were the petitioners and permitted to become the members thereof. Of these Samuel Mandell is the only one who survives.

The present officers (1878) are Wm. J. Morgan, H. P.; Coral C. White, Jr., K; Samuel D. Mandell, Scribe; Sanford Gifford, Treasurer; Delos Aikin, Secretary; Edward L. French, C. H.; E. P. Baker, P. S.; Charles Kelsey, R. A. C.; Patrick Seliny, M. 3d Veil; Lot C. Husted, M. 2d and 1st Veils; Maurice Polhemus, Tiler.

LEVANNA.

Levanna is a post village of 100 inhabitants, situated on the east shore of the lake and on the Cayuga Lake Shore R. R., by which it is distant about two miles north from Aurora. It contains a district school, two stores, a store-house, a blacksmith shop, (kept by Abraham West) a shoe shop, (kept by Ezra Underhill,) a carpenter shop, (kept by Jacob West,) and a tomato catsup factory, which is known as the Cayuga Lake Tomato Catsup Manufactory, and was established in 1874 by Wm. H. Wakeley, who run it two years, when he sold it to G. W. & W. A. Wakely, the present proprietors. During the season some fifteen persons are employed, and about 7,000 gallons of catsup made in this establishment.

The chief business of the village consists in its lake commerce, which was commenced about sixty years ago by Elias Manchester, who was the first person who shipped grain on the lake. He sold a half interest in 1857 to John Ellis, and the two continued the business until 1865, when Alfred Ellis, brother of John, bought Mr. Manchester's interest. In 1868, George S. Ellis, son of John, hired Alfred's interest, and he and his father have since carried on the business. They handle from 40,000 to 60,000 bushels of grain, 500 tons of coal, about 200,000 feet of lumber, and 300 tons of phosphates per annum. For storing phosphates they use the old steam grist mill, which was built in 1836, by a company of whom Gardner Chidester was the principal one, and which was bought by them in September 1876. The first store-house was built about 1818, by Asa Foote, who stored grain for Elias Manchester. He sold the building to Mr. Manchester, who built an addition to it in 1850. It stands upon the lake shore and forms the landing for steamboats and other craft.

The information on this page was transcribed to a digital format by Roger A. Post

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